7 Signs of a Sewer Line Problem

Most people know how to deal with clogged drains in their homes. A liquid rooter or a simple snaking usually does the trick.

However, it will be a bit more difficult if you have a problem in the sewer. This can be a serious problem for your home if it is not attended by a professional.

It can be hard to tell the difference between a small problem and a potentially large one.

According to the Department of Health, extreme care must be considered before opening the lids of sewer pipes. Why? Because harmful gases can quickly build up in these pipes.

A few safety measures to keep in mind:

Never open and work on sewer pipes alone.

Don’t smoke while working on these pipes (hint: explosive gases)

After opening the pipes for inspection, wait a few minutes to allow harmful gases to escape.

Here are some signs that you might need professional sewer cleaning:

More than a clogged drain

Clogged drainage usually means that something is obstructing the flow of water. However, if there are several clogged plugs in your home, you probably have a problem with the sewer.

This becomes particularly clear when several types of drains, such as the sink and the shower, are clogged.

The trees in the garden have tree roots. One of the main reasons for the plumber problems that the owners have are the roots of the trees. Tree roots can damage drains and cause sewage and sewage to enter the house.

The roots of the tree can move the entire pipe system. Excavating extensively is an extremely messy solution that one could choose if sewage is clogged. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid this problem from the beginning.

Toilet drainage issues

Often, any type of drainage problem will be first in your bathrooms, specifically in the toilet. Toilets have the most direct connection to the sewer network and they also have the largest drains.

Therefore, the problems with them will appear in front of the other devices.

Many owners will notice this when multiple toilets are secured at the same time. The roots of the trees can become the main line and cause intermittent interruptions.

The best way to find the cause of the problem is to use a slug that is at least six feet long. That should be enough to get through the toilet line.

Your toilet will often be the first indicator of problems when flushing slowly or not all.

If you have cleaned a clogged toilet and all other drains are also slow, your next step is for the installer to check if your sewer system has clogs or breaks that may require repair of a sewer line.

Common clogs

Shower drains accumulate more frequently than with other accessories, as they accumulate during the hair shower. If you often have to relax the shower channels, it probably will not eliminate all the blocking each time.

These hairpieces can work their way through the drain until only professional sewage treatment can eliminate the obstruction.

In a research by the City of San Diego, it’s recommended you consider opening up the Sewer Lateral Pipes.

An expert plumber can also guide you on the need to open sewer lateral pipes, which connects all the sinks, drains, and toilets in your building to the city sewer main.

If your sink or bathtub lasts too long, the problem can be caused by hair or other blockages.

There are products designed to break and clean clogged drains.

However, excessive use of these chemicals can damage your pipes. For a stubborn or recurrent block, you may need the help of a professional plumber who can use tools such as a drain circuit to solve the problem.

Channel damage causes very messy situations that require a professional touch to fix it.

If you notice any of these problems, contact the installer immediately before the installation breaks down completely and ends up with untreated sewage somewhere on your property.

Remember, the best person to solve serious plumber problems is to be a trained plumber. While some tasks can be easily tackled by the average do-it-yourself user, most tasks require an experienced hand.

Unpleasant Odors

Loose odors coming from your sink, shower drain or other accessories suggest that wastewater flows back from the main pipe to the individual pipes.

However, any drainage device that comes from your toilet is equipped with a U-shaped tube that absorbs water.

This water prevents the odors of wastewater from entering the house. It is possible that the water leaks or, if you have not used your toilet for a long time, the water will have evaporated.

Therefore, you must first locate this pipe and pour water into the U-bend. This could solve the odor situation. If your sewer is broken, it’s probably obvious.

You will probably smell the sewage and your garden will develop wet areas or sinkholes.

This usually indicates a channel hop that must be replaced. Even if you can do a patch job on the broken pipe, you are likely to see future leaps and, eventually, a replacement of the sewer system if the break is age-related and not due to other causes such as grease buildup or the roots of the trees.

5. Water Leaks

Water leaves your home through a single waste system. If this system is blocked, wastewater will flow into your home. This will initially be felt in the floor drains and bathrooms, especially in the basement.

If water enters your home, be sure not to enter water that may touch an outlet.

Depending on where the pipe explodes, it can seep out from under the ground and into the ground around your house.

This is a symptom of damaged pipes that can not be lost. Call a specialist to help with repairing your sewer pipe as soon as possible, or you can earn a reputation as a stinking house in the neighborhood.

Water leaks are always a sign of a plumbing problem. If you find water leaking from pipes, faucets or any other part of your home, verify that you can find the source.

If you can find and correct the source, take care of it yourself. Otherwise, you should call a specialist. Leaks can grow and will affect other parts of the system.

Rough sounds

When the water tries to move through a clogged pipe, it has to navigate around it, causing the obstacle. This pushes the air out of the pipe. This air flows through the water and creates the sound that could be called gurgling.

If you only hear it in a pipe, you have a problem with this drainage system.

However, since all the water leaves the house through the same system, the gurgling in several devices suggests that it needs a duct cleaning because the problem may be caused by an accumulation of back pressure.

If you hear an unusual gurgling sound in your bathroom, be sure to call a plumber as soon as possible.

Recognizing an early problem can generate hundreds of dollars difference. You probably do not need to listen too much to hear these sounds and you will notice them immediately, especially if they are accompanied by other damaged symptoms in the sewer.

You should always look for slow drains. One reason why pipes explode is when there is a large accumulation of hair or other debris that can not move quickly through the pipes. Be careful not to put anything in your pipes that should not fall.

If it’s not a human waste, do not rinse it. You can also see some sewage in your toilet. This is a sure sign that something is wrong with your pipes.

Occurrence in its accessories

These unusual reactions vary by system. Many owners report that they have lit their sinks and bubbling baths. Others report that the flushing of the toilet and the water flowing in the tub are stained.

The pipes that flow slowly almost always indicate that something is blocking the flow of water.

You can often solve this problem yourself with a snake or a commercial drain cleaner. However, if these methods do not work, you should consult a professional to remove the blockage.

You can use your system safely while your operations are slow, but you need to be prepared for any competitive backup and the mess that causes it. You will get better help before this happens.

Final thoughts

Residential plumbing systems are quite simple. The main line connects your home to a supply or urban well.

This main pipeline is divided into several pipes that lead to your sink and toilet. The wastewater comes out through a common outlet. If you know these signs, you can see the cause of the problem.

Your installer can perform a visual inspection of your internal pipes, as well as use a fiber optic camera to inspect the underground sewers for obstructions or breakages.

The oldest culverts are made of clay, which is susceptible to breakage due to aging and decomposition.

It turned out that the clay pipes have a short lifespan of 50 to 60 years, in contrast to the newer PVC pipes, which have a lifespan of 100 years.

This means that if your house was built before the 1990s, it is likely to have clay pipes and to take care of repairing or replacing pipes at some point in the ownership of your home.